Congrats to sophomore Joe Block for being selected as the August SAE Member of the Month! Please enjoy the interview below. Phi Alpha!

Congrats on being selected as the August SAE Member of the Month, Joe! To start off, tell the people why you chose to become a SAE at KU.

I chose to become an SAE because of the values on which SAE was based off, the guys who were currently in the house, and how well the house was doing. During recruitment they really stressed living by "The True Gentleman" and how they were the type of guys to help encourage members to strive to be their best each and every day.

You are going into your second year at the University of Kansas, but you've already made a big impact at the house and on campus. What positions have you held / holding and what are some notable groups you are apart of?

So far I've held the positions of Alumni Relations for two semesters and am taking on Scholarship as well as a role in Member Education this upcoming fall. On campus I am a member of the Junior Interfraternity Council on our campus which serves to transition new members into the bigger IFC role. Also, I am a member of the Honors College on campus.

Last semester, you received the IFC award for "outstanding new member". How much does it mean to you to win an award like that? Also, what advice would you give to our incoming new members so that they could potentially hold this award as well?

It means a lot to me because I put in a lot of hard work this past year and it's rewarding to see other people noticing that work. Additionally it means a lot because I work as hard as I do to obviously be successful someday but also to hopefully be able to provide for my family like they have done all throughout my life and this is simply a step in the right direction. I would encourage all new members to treat school as a full-time job (if not more), get involved in your chapters and get to know people, give back to the community by volunteering as much as possible, and just never be satisfied with what can be done with your time.

You recently just embarked on the 81st Annual John O. Moseley Leadership Cruise with a couple of your pledge brothers. Tell us about your experience and a couple of valuable lessons you learned.

The experience was awesome. Most people will immediately dismiss the Leadership School as being a valuable experience because it was on a cruise, but that wasn't the case. Our average day filled with seminars, keynote speakers, and small-group meetings started around 8am and lasted until 6pm and after that there were optional events throughout the remainder of the night as well as formal dinner from 8:30-10:00pm. The Leadership School really focused on living by the True Gentleman as well as a lot of our rituals in the fraternity which our taught, but not in as much depth. The biggest lesson I learned is how to inspire other leaders in the chapter house and how to create connections / make notable impressions.

Lastly, what would you like to leave behind when you become a Kansas Alpha alum?

I would like to leave behind a chapter that is performing at a Zeal worthy level each and every year. I want Kansas Alpha to have well-rounded men who know everything about the True Gentleman and who know SAE history. Most importantly, I want to set the bar high in the positions which I take on so incoming members have a bar to reach which hopefully they can exceed to continue making the chapter better.